Autograph cash register



No. 6|5,024. Patented Nov. 29, I898. J. A. HOFF.

AUTOGRAPH CASH REGISTER.

(Application filed Feb. 28, 1888.)

2 Sheets-Sheefl.

(No Model.)

m: NORRIS Farms co. Pnmoumm WASHINGTON. 0. c4

No. 6l5,024. Patented Nov. 29, I898. .1. A. HOFF.

AUTOGRAPH CASH REGISTER.

(Application filed Feb. 28, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

KEEE MOTL MERCHANT Uata WITNESSES INVENTOR "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. I'IOFF, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WVILLIAM T. BLAINE, OFSAME PLACE.

AUTOGRAPH CASH-REGISTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 615,024, dated November29, 1898.

Application filed February 28, 1898. Serial No. 672,073. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN A. Horn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

5 have invented a new and useful Improvement in AutographCash-Registers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the class of cash-registers inwhich the origi- I nal entry of transactions is made on a receiving-strip to be delivered to the customer and is transferred to a record-stripby means of interposed carbon paper or other suitable transfer medium.

[ The primary object of my improvement is to provide, in connection withan autograph cash register of the character outlined, a printingattachment .of novel construction adapted to be actuated by operatingthe cashregister, as by moving a cash-drawer or otherwise, to printdesired matter on the original entry-strip.

A further object is to afford compactness to the cash-register byavoiding the necessity of locating the printing attachment so far awayfrom the writing-table as to leave an extentof space between them of theentire length of custom ers-check section of the strip on which theoriginal entries are made.

0 A still further object is to provide for correspondingly numbering orotherwise identifying simultaneously the customers check and thetransfer copy thereof by operating the cash-register.

3 5 Another object is to provide convenient means of novel constructionfor automatically feeding the carbon or other transfer medium betweenthe form-plate and the original entrystrip, and my object is generallyto provide a simple, compact, and comparatively inexpensive constructionof autograph cash-register in the class referred to, with the mechanismswhich are provided for performing the different functions devised with aview to 5 their durability and reliability in operation and to remain inorder under the greatest amount of use to which the machine may besubjected.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a view, partly broken, in longitudinal vertical sectionalelevation of an autograph cash-register involving my improvements; Fig.2, a broken sectionalview, in side elevation, of the printingattachment, presenting the side thereof opposite that displayed in Fig.1; Fig. 3, a view in elevation of the impression-roller; Fig. l, a frontView of the form-plate; Fig. 5, a cross-section of a rail of the trackon which the impressionroller-actuating levers travel; Fig. 6, asectional view showing the numbering attachment and its immediateactuating mechanism in side elevation, and Fig. 7 a plan View of theseries of rotary number-carrying disks which I prefer to employ. 6 5

A is the cash-register case, formed of any suitable material, preferablyin the general rectangular shape illustrated, and shown as containing inits base portion a sliding cashdrawer C and as provided with a cover B,hinged at one end and equipped with a keyoperated lock '0 at theopposite end. The cover contains an opening 1", in which a writing-tableD is supported to leave spaces at its opposite ends for the passage ofpaper.

In the case, near one end and supported above the drawer on a falsebottom a, is j ournaled on standards 0 (only one of which is presentedtoview) a roller 13 for carrying the supply-roll of customers-checkpaper, (indi- 8o cated at p.) A frame E, both sides of which are likethe side presented to view in Fig. 1, is also supported in the case onthe false bottom n and carries, journaled upon it between its ends, aroller m for the supply-roll of rec- 8 ord-strip paper (indicated at m)and journaled upon it at one end a receiving-roll T, on which to windthe record-strip, as indicated at 00. On the opposite end of the frame Eis the printing attachment, involving the following-describedconstruction:

The frame portion F of the printing attachment forms one end of theframe E, at which it bears on the false bottom 11. Each side of thisframe portion contains an elongated ob- 5 lique slot 1, the slots in thetwo sides extending parallel with each other. Adjacent to one side ofthe slots (the rear side or that nearest the roll 19) is seated betweenthe sides of the frame portion F a form-plate G, provided on onesurface, toward one end, with the matter of heading (indicated at G inFig. 4)

and toward its opposite end preferably also with matter, such as thelines represented at G in the same figure. The form -plate is adapted tobe slid into place and is held therein by a block 70, confined at itsedges in grooves in the sides of the frame portion to bear against theback of the plate. The block 7c has provided upon its outer surfacepairs of standards 7c and one pair having journaled upon them a rollerH, provided at one end with a grooved pulley 70 and the other pairhaving journaled upon them a roller H, provided at one end with agrooved pulley 70 and with a loosely-hum g lever k carrying a pivotaldog 7; to engage a ratchet 70 on the roller. The pulleys 70 and k aregeared together by an endless band 70 and the rollers carry the sup plyof carbon-paper H which extends from one to the other across the face ofthe formplate G and under the paper from the roll 19 against the face ofthe form-plate. The employment of the endless band 7.0 to gear togetherthe pulleys 70 and It provides against tearing of the paper undervariations of the speed of the rolls, as any such variations will causethe band to slip on the pulleys, as will be understood. The paper 19passes from the printing attachment out through the cover B, over thetable D, beyond the tearing edge, (indicated at t in Fig. 1,) and thepaper from the roll m passes in the same way over the table D,underneath the customers-check paper 19, and back into the case at theforward end of the table, across a guide-roller at w, to the roller T,to be wound thereon as hereinafter described. Both sheets pass betweenfriction-rollers iand 1', supported in advance of the table D, the onebelow the cover B and the other above it.

I is an impression-roller, formed preferably of metal and carryingloosely on the opposite ends of its shaft the wheels h 72,, Fig. 3,beyond which it is journaled in boxes h, confined in slots h formed inthe corresponding ends of the heads L, of generally triangular shape, ofa pair of levers L, only one of which is shown, fulcrumed at s, toextend mainly in the portion of the case A below the false bottom 17.and operate through slots n therein. Each lever is controlled by aspring 6 to retract it when raised, as hereinafter described. Thus thelevers L flank the plane in which the drawer 0 moves and extend, withtheir slot-containing heads adjacent to the slots Z- in the sides of theframe portion F, along the rails near which the wheels 77. on theimpression-roller travel, as hereinafter described. In the lower angleof the head L of each lever L is journaled a roller 9 to ride up aninclined rail g, one of the two rails, which together form a track,being shown in Fig. 1 fulcrumed at its upper end to a side of the drawerO at S, whence it inclines downward and forward to rest at its freelower end against a lug g on the side of the drawer.

Along the inner forward side of each slot Z in the frame portion F issupported to extend normally parallel with the slot a yielding rail f,Fig. 2, its support being afforded by a pivotal connection at itsopposite ends with the free ends of arms f, fulcrumed to the inner sidesof the frame portion F. A set screw f to bear against which at its upperend each rail f is held by a spring f is suitably supported in a bearingf on the inner surface of the frame portion to afford a rigid stopagainst the upward movement of the rail.

M is a consecutive-numberin g device which may be of the well-knownconstruction involving a series of disks 01, supported to be rotated ina manner to cause the complete rotation of each to turn that adjacent toit through a partial rotation, whereby the raised numerals provided onthe periphery of each in series from O to 9 shall present on the severaldisks a horizontal line of figures describing a number, which issubjected to consecutively-increasin g change by each partial rotationof a disk. The shaft (2, carryin g the series of disks oi, is supportedon the free ends of a pair of arms d extending from a rock-shaft djournaled in bearings 61, depending from the under side of the table Dand adapted to be turned against the retracting force of a'spring d by ahandle d extending from the rock-shaft into the path of theimpression-roller I, which engages the cam end al of the arm in themanner hereinafter described. Between the arms 62 is pivoted aspring-controlled dog d engaging a ratchet d on the shaft d and actuatedagainst the retracting force of its controlling-spring by encountering arigid arr-ester d depend ing from the under side of the table D. Theseries of rotary raised-character-bearing disks is supported to extendbelowa bank of needles M, Fig. 1, depending from the under side of thetable D, at an opening therein (not shown) covered by a raised shield N,these needles being held in the bundle thereof to yield independently ofeach other, whereby any raised characters on the disks impinged againstthe lower ends of the needles will encounter only those in the plane ofeach character and accordingly raise them to perforate through the twostrips of paper on the table D the same form of character. The upperends of the needles are received, when raised, in a cavity N under theshield N.

The shaft on which the roll T is supported carries a ratchet c, engagedby a spring-eontrolled dog 0, pivotally supported on one end of a lever0 fulcrumed on said shaft and extending at its opposite end, with aninwardprojecting stud 0 which it there carries, into the path of aprojection c on a side of the drawer 0, near its inner end.

The operation is as follows: Each time an entry is made at the table Dupon the customers-check paper 19 thereon it is copied on the lowerrecord-paper m below it by an interposed carbon or other transfermedium, which in the present instance may be provided in the form of acarbon surface on the under side of the paper 19. After each entry ismadethe cash-register is operated, in the present case by pulling outthe drawer G to the position in which it is represented by full lines inFig. 1 and thereafter pushing it in again. Closing the drawer carries itand the inclined track-rails g to the dotted positions indicated in Fig.1,thereby causing the wheels g to ride up the inclined track, and thusraise the levers L, whereby the impression-roller I is raised throughthe slots 1 in the printingattachment frame F and-rotated by its contactwith the paper 19 and transfer-strip H to press them against theform-surface of the plate G, and thus imprint the latter on the paper19. This same inward movement of the drawer causes it to encounter thestud c and turn the lever c to back the dog 0 one tooth over the ratchetc and hold it there against the retraction force of itscontrolling-spring until the drawer is again opened. Moreover,

v the recoil force of the spring of the dog 0' as sists in opening thedrawer. When the drawer is completely closed, the higher ends of theinclined rails g have passed the rollers g, thereby permitting the headends L of the levers L to drop and rest at their rollers on the base ofthe case A. The drop of the levers L carries down to the lower ends ofthe slots Z the impression-roller I without material impediment, sincethe rails f, owing to the manner of their spring support, readily yielddownward and outward under the pressure against them of theimpression-roll in its descent.

Another result of the rise of the impressionroller under closure of thecash-drawer is due to its encountering, as it reaches the upper ends ofthe-slots l, the arm to turn the carbon-paper rollers H H, and thus feeda fresh section of the carbon-strip over the form-plate G. A stillfurther result of the rise of the impression-roller is due to itsencountering the arm (1 of the numbering device M. This forces the armaside and turns the rock-shaft d raising the arms d to force the disks(1 against the back of needles M to perforate the papers p and m abovethem with the figures on the disks which encounter the needles. In therise of the disks the dog d encounters the arrester d to be heldthereby, so that when with the descent of the impression-roller I therecoil force of the spring d is permitted to act it-lowers the arms 01to their normal position, thereby permitting the spring controlling thedog to turn one or more disks through a partial rotation to presentanother number thereon for subsequent engagement with the bank ofneedles. In the upward movement of the number-carrying disks the dog (:1is arrested to engage with another tooth of the, ratchet to turn thedisks when they come down.

In the closed condition of the drawer the wheels g on the lever-heads Lare obviously in the path of the backs of the inclined rails g; but inopening the drawer again the tracks ride over and clear at their freelower ends the wheels g to bring them in the opened condition of thedrawer into position relative to the tracks to ride up them when thedrawer is again closed. Moreover, by opening the drawer from its closedposition (indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1) the projection c iscarried away from the stud c on the lever 0 thereby permitting thespring which controls the dog 0 to retract the latter against theratchet c and turn the ratchet one tooth to wind upon the roll T thesection of the recordstrip on which the copy has been made of an entry.Moving thus, the record-strip, by turning the roll T, likewise advancesthe paper 1) to the tearing-off point towing to the pressure exertedagainst the two paper sections by the friction-rollers i and 11.

Rewinding the transfer-paper H from the one roller H, upon which it hasbeen accumulated by consecutive windings, back to the roller H, fromwhich it has been unwound, may be readily accomplished by reverselyrotating the roller H through the medium of a thumb-nut I), provided forthe purpose.

It will be noticed that the form-plate is presented in Fig. 4 ininverted positionthat is to say, with the advertising-heading Glowermost and the lined section G uppermost, to be severed by tearing atthe broken line a. This is the position in which the plate is adjustedin the frame portion F in order that the heading on the printed sectionof the pa per p forming the customers check may form the rear end ofsuch section, and in advance of which the customers check is torn off atthe line a when fed to the tearing-off point at t by operating thecash-register. Thus the heading for each printed section of the strip 19affording a customers check is originally the tail end of the check inadvance ofit and which is severed from it to leave it as the heading forthe next succeeding customers-check section and advanced by the feed toextend beyond the forward end of the table D. As will be seen by thedescribed inverted disposition of the form-plate G, the last-printedheading G, which forms only a portion of the length of customers check,is all thereof that extends stationarily between the printing attachmentand table D, while the remainder of the section printed at the same timeis extended over the table to be written on, while if the form-platewere contrarily disposed the printing attachment would require to belocated as far away from the table as the length of each section ofpaper forming a customers check, thereby rendering necessary a mate rialincrease in the dimensions of the case A and to that extent impairingits compactness.

The nature of my improvement has necessitated, to enable it to beclearly comprehended, that the details of the various mechanisms andtheir operations be quite minutely set forth in the foregoingdescription. I do not, however, wish to be understood as intending bysuch minute explanation to limit my invention to the precise details ofconstruction and combinations of parts set forth, as they may, withoutdeparture from the spirit of my invention, be variously modified bythose skilled in the art. It would, as an example of one changecontemplated by me, be within my invention to have the form to beprinted on the roll I, when the plate G would afford animpression-plate.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an autograph cash-register of the character described, thecombination of a printing attachment containing a form, a shiftabletransfer-strip interposed between said form and the strip to be printedtherefrom, means -for shifting said transfer-strip, an impressiondevice, and means for bringing said impression device upon the formagainst the strip to be printed, substantially as described.

2. In an autograph caslrregister of the character described, thecombination of a printing attachment containing a form, a shiftabletransfer-strip interposed between said form and the strip to be printedtherefrom, means for shifting said transfer-strip, an impressionroller,and means for moving said roller upon the form against the strip to beprinted, substantially as described.

3. In an autograph cash-register of the character described, thecombination with the table, of a printing attachment containing aform-plate having the heading to be printed on the customefs-check stripat its rear or lower end, whereby the space between said table andattachment need not exceed the width of said heading, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

4. In an autograph cash-register of the character described, thecombination with the mechanism for operating it, of a printing attachment containing a form, a track supported adjacent to said form toyield in one direction, and an impression-roller rolled by saidoperating mechanism against the form upon said track, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

5. In an autograph cash-register of the character described, thecombination with the mechanism for operating it, of a printingattachment comprising a frame having parallel upward-inclined slots inits side portions and supporting a form-plate adjacent to said slots, atrack spring-s11 pported adjacent to said slots to yield downwardly andoutwardly and stopped against upward yielding, and an impression-rollerrolled by said operating mechanism against the form upon said track,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In an autograph cash-register of the character described, thecombination with the mechanism for operating it, of a printingattachment containing a form-plate, a transfersheet interposed betweensaid plate and the strip to be printed therefrom and wound at itsopposite ends upon rollers journaled on a base at the back of saidplate, an impressionroller rolled by said operating mechanism upon saidform against the strip to be printed, and an actuating-arm extendingfrom one of said transfer-strip rollers into the path of saidimpression-roller, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In an autograph cash-register of the character described, thecombination with the mechanism for operating it, of a printing attachment containing a form, a transfer-strip interposed between saidform and the strip to be printed therefrom, a table in the cover of thedevice across which the printed strip and the record-strip are extendedone upon the other, an impression-roller rolled by said operatingmechanism upon said form against the strip to be printed, and aperforating marking device supported below said table and extending intothe path of said impression-roller to be actuated thereby, substantiallyas described.

8. In an autograph cash-register of the character described, thecombination with the mechanism for operating it, of a printingattachment comprising a frame supporting a form-plate, a transfer-stripinterposed be tween said form and the strip to be printed therefrom, atable in the cover of the device across which the printed strip and therecordstrip are extended one upon the other, an impression-rollersupported to be rolled by said operating mechanism upon said formagainst the strip to be printed, and a rotary-diskconsecutive-number-perforating device springsupported below said tableand having an operating-arm extending into the path of said roller to beactuated thereby, substantially as described.

9. In an autograph cash-register of the character described, thecombination with the record-strip roll and cash-drawer and mechanismbetween said drawer and roll for actuating the roll by moving thedrawer, of springcontrolled levers L having heads L carrying rollers g,a track 9 for said rollers pivotally supported at opposite sides of thedrawer to incline down ward,a printing attachment comprising a framesupporting a form-plate, and an impression-roller journaled to be rolledagainst the form-plate by the rise and fall of said lever-heads underthe opening and closing movements of said drawer, substantially asdescribed.

JOHN A. IIOFF.

In presence of-- M. J. Fnos'r, R. 'l. SPENCER.

